DES MOINES - Casino operators and other gambling interests in Iowa paid lobbyists more than $900,000 from July 2003 through June to promote gambling.

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board reported Wednesday that $912,144 was spent by 17 gambling organizations to pay people lobbying the executive branch, including statewide elected officials, agencies, boards and commissions. It does not include money spent to lobby lawmakers.

"I think given the amount of interest in the issue and the amount of money we're talking about on the table, that amount is large but I don't think it's surprising," said Charlie Smithson, the IECD Board's executive director. "It shows the importance of the issue."

The report includes the time period leading up to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission's June decision to reverse a statewide moratorium on new gambling licenses.

That decision permits horse and dog race tracks in the state to add table games to their racing and slot machine venues, expanding their potential revenue by millions of dollars a year. It also eases restrictions on riverboat casinos and opens the possibility for more casinos to be added to the current 10 riverboats and three racetracks.

The report indicates antigambling forces could launch only an anemic effort to fight casino expansion.

"It's an uphill battle when you're going against gambling," said Judie Hoffman, a lobbyist for Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa. "The resources and people, the number of lobbyists is very high. That has always been the case right from the introduction of gambling to the state of Iowa."

Hoffman was paid $8,272 to lobby for the organization, which represents 2,300 church congregations in the state, but only a small portion of her time was spent on gambling, she said.

The Iowa Family Policy Center spent $13,846 and the United Methodist Church spent $60,000 for lobbyists that spent only some of their time on gambling issues.

The lopsided spending reflects the wealth of resources casinos and gambling interests are willing to use to help persuade state officials.

Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona spent the most - more than $216,000 - for lobbying efforts.

A casino official said that because of the way reports are filed, that amount covers lobbyist costs for last year and this year.

Steve Berry, Prairie Meadows spokesman, said the lobbyists expenditure is a wise business investment and is a fair amount based upon the industry standard.

"They often are our eyes and ears. We don't have enough staff to be there all the time. They are people who understand the issues and are letting us know what kind of discussions are going on," he said.

Some of the lobbying expenses could have gone to pay lobbyists to attend the many meetings and public hearings over the last many months, said Wes Ehrecke, president and lobbyist for the Iowa Gaming Association, which promotes the benefits of Iowa's gambling industry.

The group spent $3,618, according to the report.

"Numerous issues were being focused upon affecting every aspect of the industry. It was important to keeping it thriving versus just surviving and as a result it probably put more focus and took more dollars to be able to assure that," Ehrecke said. "A lot of that may be just providing a presence there at meetings and the hours of prep time. There certainly has been more activity in recent months."